Hydraulic switch device



- 1945- w; J. HUGHES 2,376,918

HYDRAULIC SWITCH DEVICE Filed May 26, 1943 z Sheets-Shet 1 MENTOR. Walk/J Mgkea,

' May 29, 1945.

w. .1. HUG HES HYDRAULIC SWITCH DEVICE Filed May 26, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Wgfler JHLghi May 29, 1945. w. .J. HUGHES HYDRAULIC SWITCH DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 26, 1945 V ///I//////////////////// Z /l/ll/ INVENTOR. Waller J /46,

have a tendency to cause water hammer.

Patented May-29, 1945 HYDRAULIC SWITCH DEVICE Walter J. Hughes, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Infilco Incorporated, Chicago, Ill.,

Delaware a corporation of Application May 26, 1943, Serial No. 488,802

7 Claims. (01. 137144) This invention relates 'to hydraulic four-way switch valves that may be used singly or in banks of any number with common supply and waste connections, and has reference more particularly to a valve which may be combined with others of similar construction for controlling the operation of a plurality of hydraulic cylinders connected with'gate valves or other devices it is desired control.

In multiple port hydraulic switch valves here-. tofore used, it has been the practice to use plug cocks and poppet type valves for controlling the flow bf operating water. The sticking, scoring and leaking or plug cocks is well known and poppet valves require a large number of accurately machined parts, which makes the cost of the valves high. The poppet valve bodies have a tendency to warp out of aligmnent which forces the guides to unseat the valves so that they leak. Furthermore the poppet valves are noisy and On high water pressures, the poppet valves are dimcult to operate as considerable force is necessary therefor.

An object of the invention, therefore, is to provide an inexpensive multiple port hydraulic switch device in which the flow of liquid in the main passages is controlled by flexible diaphragms.

A second object of the'invention is to provide a simple hydraulic four-way switch valve unit that may readily be combined with a plurality of others of similar construction to provide a control device operating a plurality of flow regulating devices. a

Another object of the invention is'to provide a device of the class described which will operate smoothly and noiselessly and without water hammer.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which may be constructed at a low cost, and which will not leak regardless of any warping oi the switch body.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device controlled by long wearing flexible valve diaphragms which are the principal moving partsv and may be quickly replaced at low cost.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device which may be operated with little physical force so that hand or solenoid operation may be used.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of the class described in which the operation of the valve diaphragms, is controlled by pilot valves.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a battery of the hydraulic switches of my invention,

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of one of the devices, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of one of the units of Fig. 1 taken on line 3-4 of Fig.2. and

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are sectional plan views of the same device taken on lines 4-4, 5-. and 8-8 respectively of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, my improved multiple hydraulic switch device comprises a valve or switch unit, designated generally by the letter A. In many installations it is desired to operate a plurality, of devices; and my valve units A. are particularly adapted for that purpose. In Fig. 1

I show a bank'of several such units which are supported in face to face abutting relation by a pair of elongated bolts ill. The bolts l0 pass through opposed apertured ears H on inlet casting l2 and outlet casting 13 which are preferably identical but oppositely disposed at each end of the series of valve units A. A pressure water inlet pipe I! is connected to the inlet casting l2 and an outlet or waste pipe I 5 is connected to the outlet casting l3. Unused openings in castings l2 and I3 are closed by screw plugs I511. Each of the castings l2 and I3 has a pair of bosses it; which are connected to one end of supporting straps [l by bolts l8. Bolts l9 connect the other end of straps H to a supporting surface 20, such" fluid through said pipe line.

as a part of an operating cabinet. As shown in Fig. 2, a pipe 2| leads from a port in the bottom of each of the valve units A to one end of a hydraulic cylinder 22, and a pipe 23 leads from the'opposite end of each cylinder 22 to a second port in the bottom of each valve unit A. A piston 24 is positioned in cylinder 22 according to the flow of water through pipes 2| and 23. A

piston rod 25 is slidably mounted in cylinder heads 26 and 21 for axial movement, and said rod is connectedat one end to a gate 28 in a valve 29, said valve being mounted in a pipe line 30 so that the movement of gate 28 controls the flow of While I customarily employ the pipe line 30 to carry water to or from gravity water filter plants, it will be obvious that the piston rod 25 may be used to control the operation of any other suitable device.

Each unit A has a valve body 32, which is preferably made as a one piece casting having numerous valve seats and liquid passages hereinafter 38 and waste water flows from the units through passage 34. A central partition I divides the casting into two chambers, I06 and I01. Opposed ports 35 and 36 lead from the pressure passage 33 into chambers I06 and I01 respectively, and opposed ports 31 and 38 cpnnect the two chambers with the waste passage 34. As shown in Figs.

3 and 5 the various ports are smaller than the p I cross-sectional area of the chambers, I06 and I01 as shown in Fig. 5, so that water may flow through the chambers and pipes 2I and 23, although one or more of the ports are closed. Valve diaphragms 40 and H are supported adjacent the valve ports and 36 respectively, and valve diaphragms 42 and 43 which may be integral with diaphragms 40 and 4|, are supported adjacentthe valve ports 31 and 3 8 respectively. The diaphragms 40, M, 42 and 43 are preferably formed of cloth inserted rubber or other suitable flexible material. The edges of diaphragms 42 and 43 are supported around their peripheries in fluidtight condition by caps'45 and 46, respectively,

' held in place by machine screws 41 and flat head screws '48. The caps 45 and 46 mayhave open frame extensions 50 and 5I which support the edges of valve diaphragms 40 and M respectively, being held in place by machine screws '52. The surface 53 of frames 50 and 5I is frusto conical in shape to provide a greater area adjacent the exterior face of frames 50 and SI than exists adjacent the inner face of said frames. Flexible diaphragms 54 and 55 extend over the outer face of the frames 50 and 5I, respectively and have spacing pads 56 and 51 secured thereto to maintain a fixed distance between the diaphragms 54 and 40 and between diaphragms 55 and so as to form flexible valve assemblies of substantial thickness. It will be noted that the diameter of the outer diaphragms 54 and 55 is greater than the diameter of the inner diaphragms 40 and M. Thus the outer diaphragms have greater effective areas than the inner ones, so that when line pressure is applied to the outer face of the outer diaphragm, the greater effective area of that diaphragm will provide a total force suflicient to overcome the force of the line pressure against the inner face of the inner diaphragm and so force the latter tightly against the" port to close the same. When there is no line pressure against the outer face of the outer diaphragm (as shown at port 36) the diaphragm assembly is pushed outwardly by the. line pressure constantly in chamber 33, and opens the port. In the case of ports 31 and 38 which lead to thewaste passage 34 from intermediate passages or chambers I06 8| and 82 leading from pressure chamber 33. Annular valve seats 66 and 61 are screwed into valve body 32. The pilot valves are depressed by means of an interlocking lever 68 which is pivotally mounted on a pin 69 supported. on upstanding ears 10. Gland bushings H and 12 are screwed into the valve body 32 and serve to align the valve stems 64 and 65 in their axial m0vement. Packing 13 is provided in the bushings TI and 12, said packing 13 being held in place by followers 14, which are slidably carried in packing receptacles 15. A collar 16 is'secured to the upper end of each stem 64 and 65 by means of pins 11. A compression spring 18 is confined between each collar 16 and follower 14 so as to normally urge each valve 62 and 63 upwardly to a position wherein they seat to close against seats 66 and 61 to stop off waste passages 86 and 81.

-Spaces 88 and 89 above the bushings 66 and 61 are connected by fluid passages 90 and 9| respectively which connect with a central downwardly and I01 respectively, only single valve diaphragms are required because at these ports the pressures on opposite sides of the diaphragms are not equal.

Caps 58 and 59 overlie the diaphragms 54 and 55 respectively, being secured in place by machine screws 52 and flat head screws 48. Outstanding lugs 60 are formed on the caps 58 and 59 to engage the bolts I0 and maintain the units A in alignment. Vents 60a connect with atmosphere the spaces between diaphragms 40 and 54, and between diaphragms H and 55.

In order to control the opening and the closing of the various ports, I provide a pair of threeway pilot valves 62 and v63 on the end of valve stems 64 and 65, respectively, inserted in passages extending waste fluid passage 92 which terminates in the waste passage 34. Spaces 93 and 94 below bushings 66 and 61 are connected by passages 95 and 96 to diaphragm chamber or enclosure 91 and 88 inside 'caps 58 and 59 respectively. A fluid passage 99 leads from the chamber 98 to a chamber I00 inside the cap 45. A fluid passage IOI leads from the chamber 91 to a chamber I02 inside the cap 46, said passage IOI being, shaped similar to passage 99 but opposite hand, When either pilot valve 62 or 63 is depressed to close seats 19 or 60 formed by the upper ends of pas sages 8| and 62, the leads 95 or 96 are cut off from the line pressure in passage 33 and connected to atmosphere through the annular passages around the valve stems 64 and 65 in the seats 66 and 61, then through passages or 9I.

other. A connector 85 may be connected to one end of the lever 66 to operate same from a remote position. When the lever 68 is rocked in the counter-clockwise direction it will depress the valve 63 tightly against the opening of passage-,

way 82 and thus shut off line pressure from the outer face of the outer diaphragm 55. At this point the chamber 98 is open to atmospheric pres sure through the passages 96, 81, 9| and 92 and waste chamber 34. The line pressure .in chamber 33 is then able to force the diaphragm assembly away from the port 36 and so permit the flow of water from chamber 33 through port 36, then through chamber I01 around port 38 and into and through pipe 2I to raise the piston 24. At this point it will be apparent that the valve 62 is raised to its uppermost position thereby closing passage 86. Pressure water from chamber 33 is then enabled to pass through passageway 8|.

chamber 93, and passageway into chamber 91, thereby closing the port 35. Pressure water will also pass from chamber 91 through passageway IOI to chamber I02 thereby closing waste port 38. At this stage, chamber I 06 has no exterthe inner side of diaphragm 42 by raising piston 24 will be sufficient to open port 31, and allow water to pass through pipe 23, port 81 and waste chamber 34-to waste.

When lever 68 is rocked in a clockwise direction and depresses valve 62 against the end of passageway 8|. the ports 35 and 38 will be opened and ports 38 and 31 will be closed, the operation being the reverse of that just described. When the lever 68 is in a horizontal .or neutral position both pilot valves 82 and 63 will be upwardly pressed against the valve seats 66 and 81 through line pressure in passages 8| and 82 and the action of springs l8, thereby closing passageways 86 and 8T and allowing water under line pressure to enter chambers 91. 98, I and I02 as described, thus holding all diaphragms tightly against their respective ports, thereby preventing the flow of water through the valve unit. When all of the ports are closed th piston 24v will be stopped and held at its then position.

It is apparent from the drawings that the fluid passages are so arranged that when the lever 68 is rocked in a counter-clockwise direction, port 36 is open, diagonally opposite port 31 Will also be open. and ports 35 and 38 will be' closed as shown in Fig, 2, and, vice versa, when the lever 68 is rocked in a clockwise direction. It will also be obvious that when the lever 68 is in its neutral position all four valves are closed. When lever 68 is in the counter-clockwise position shown in Fig. 2, water will flow as indicated by the arrows through chamber I01 and pipe 2| to raise the piston 24. Water underline pressure enters the series of valve units A Fig. 1) through pipe I, and flows through communicating water passage 33 while water displaced from the cylinder 22 leaves the units through waste passage 84 and waste water pipe l5. Since a separate hydraulic cylinder 22 is connected to each of the valve units A, the flow of fluid through each of the valves 29 and pipes 30 may be controlled by manually or automatically actuating the levers 68 to produce'the desired sequence of operations as in the operation of gravity filters or the like.

I would state in conclusion that while the illustrated example constitutes a practical embodiment of 'my, invention, I do not wish to limit myself precisely to these details, since, manifestly, the same may be considerably varied without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A valve comprising a valve body, a pair of inlet ports and a pair of outlet ports in said valve body, and means to normally close said parts and each outlet port diaphragm the same pressure diaphragm with whichit is to open in unison.

2. In a valve unit for an actuator assembly of the type controlling operation ot a plurality of hydraulic devices and including a plurality of valve units in face to face communicating relation, an inlet for pressure liquid into the assembly and an outlet to waste from the assembly, said valve unit comprising a body, a pressure liquid chamber and a waste chamber in said body communicating with said inlet and outlet respectively, partition'means in said body forming therein two flow passages, ports opening from-said pressure chamber and from said waste chamber into said flow passages, and flexible diaphragms over said ports: improved means to normally close said po'z'ts and to selectively open one of said pressure ports and one of said waste ports'in' unison, said means comprising a second diaphragm of larger effective area spaced from but cooperatively joined to the outside of each pressure port diaphragm, a chamber on the outside of each of said second diaphragms, conduits joining said chambers to said pressure chamber and to said waste chamber, valve means associated with said conduits, and means to operate said valve means, a chamber on the outside of each waste port diaphragm and open connections between the pressure port diaphragm chambers and the waste port chambers on opposed flow passages.

3. A valve comprising a' valve body, a pair of pressure ports and a pair of waste ports in said body, a pressure chamber common to said pressure ports, a waste chamber common to said waste ports, and intermediate passages common each to one pressure port and one waste port, inner diaphragms common each to one waste port and U one pressure port, an outer diaphragm over each pressure port diaphragm, conduits connecting each pressure port diaphragm chamber to said pressure chamber and to said waste passage, valve to selectively open in unison one of said inlet ports I and one of said outlet ports, said means comprising a flexible diaphragm assembly over each inlet port having an inner diaphragm, and an outer diaphragm in spaced relation to, and of larger effective area than, said inner diaphragm, said diaphragm forming a chamber therebetween which is open to atmosphere, the inner face of said inner diaphragm being continuously exposed to pressure from inside said inlet ports, control means to selectively apply atmospheric pressure or pressure from inside said inlet ports to the outer face of both the outer diaphragms, or to apply pressure from inside said inlet ports to one of said outer diaphragms and atmospheric pressure to the other, a flexiblediaphragm over each outlet port, and conduit means so constructed and arranged as to transmit to the outer face of means associated with said conduits, and means to operate said valve means.

4. A hydraulic actuator for controlling operation of a valve or the like, comprising an actuator body; partition means in said body forming. therein two chambers and two flow passages; an inlet for pressure water into one of said chambers; an outlet to waste from the other of said chambers; a pressure port between said pressure chamber and each of said flow passages; a waste port between said waste chamber and each of said flow passages; a diaphragm assembly for each pressure port comprising a first flexible diaphragm adjacent said port, a second and larger flexible diaphragm laterally spaced therefrom. spacing means between said diaphragms, a cap over the outside of said second diaphragm and forming therewith a diaphragm chamber, conduits connecting said diaphragm chamber to said pressure chamber and to said waste chamber,

tions and simultaneously close the other; a diaphragm over each waste port; a cap over the outside of each or said waste port dlaphragms and forming therewith adiaphragm chamber, and a constantly open flow passage leading from eachof said waste port diaphragm chambers to one of 1 said pressure port diaphragm chambers.

3, ports and one oisaid waste ports to a hydraulic cylinder on one side of its piston, a second flow passage adapted to connect the other "of said pressure ports and the other of said waste ports to such hydraulic cylinder. on the other side of the piston, and means to control flow through said flow passages comprising adiaphragm assembly over each pressure'port, each assembly having a flexible inner diaphragm adjacent said port and a flexible outerdiagram, laterally spaced therefrom but cooperatively joined thereto, said outer diaphragm being of larger effective area than said inner diaphragm, a diaphragm over each waste port, means operable to selectively apply line pressure to both of said larger outer diaphragms and to selectively apply simultaneously line pressure to one of said larger outer diaphragms and a lesser pressure to the other,

and means for transmitting to the outside of each waste port diaphragm the pressure that is applied tov the outer diaphragm of the pressure port which is connected with the opposed flow passage.

6. A hydraulic actuator comprising an actuator body, a partition in said body forming two flow passages, a pressure conduit and a waste conduit in said body, a pressure port between said pressure conduit and each of said flow passages, a waste port between said waste conduit 1 I and each of said flow passages, a diaphragm assembly over each pressure port comprising a first flexible diaphragm adjacent said port, a

second flexible diaphragm of larger effective area than said first diaphragm, and spacing means between said diaphragms, the diameter of said spacing means being at least substantially equal to the diameter of said pressure port, a flexible diaphragm over each waste port, a diaphragm 'chamber 'between each waste port diaphragm and said body and between each second pressure port diaphragm and said body, conduit means connecting said diaphragm chambers to said pressure chamber and to said waste chamber respectively, valve means associated with said conduit means,- and means to operate said valve means.

7. A valve comprising a ,valve body, partition means within said valve body forming two flow passages and a pressure chamber and a waste chamber therein, .ports between each flow pas- ,sage and said pressure chamber and said waste ally opposed waste port in unison with either chamber, avariable pressure chamber opposite each port, diaphragm valves across said ports and so constructed and arranged as to separate said variable pressure chambers from said ports,

" the diaphragm valve over said ports in said presthe pressure chamber or the waste chamber, valve means associated with said conduits to control flow therethrough, and means for positioning said last mentioned valve means to simultaneously permit flow from said pressure chamber to all of said variable pressure chambers and to prevent flow from any of said variable pressure chambers'to said waste chamber, or to simultaneously permit flow from said pressure chamber to only one variable pressure chamber opposite a pressure port and its opposed waste port variable pressure chamber, and to permit flow from the other variable pressure chamber opposite a pressure port and its opposed waste port variable pressure chamber to said waste chamber.

WALTER J. HUGHES. 

